Dursely's Departing
by pink.hot.chocolate
Summary: This is the story of what happens to the Dursleys when Harry is off searching for Horcruxes. What happens when Voldemort finds them? Will Harry save them?
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

As Mr. Dursley drove away from his home, his son, Dudley, chanced one last glance at the home they had inhabited for as long as he could remember. The wizard had said they could never come back. That they were in danger from a different wizard who was intent upon killing Harry. But why? Why did he want to kill Harry? What had he done? Dudley just couldn't get his mind around it.

Despite the bullying and the torturing, Dudley had become accustomed to Harry. He was almost like a brother. Almost, but not quite. It just seemed strange that they had agreed never to see each other ever again after nearly sixteen years of living under the same roof.

His father grumbled as the man with the strange pocket watch complimented his driving. Dudley didn't think these wizards were too frightening. Besides the fact that they what his mother called 'freaks' these two didn't seem too bad. Unlike the other wizards they'd met, these hadn't done any magic so far, so Dudley thought this journey might not be too bad.

Yet he was still afraid. As little as he wanted to show it, he was afraid. If they had to leave their entire lives behind for this, then it must be serious. Ever since that Dementor had attacked him, Dudley had a new outlook on magic. The creature was horrible, but Harry had saved him. There was good magic after all. Dudley often had nightmares about that night. He remembered the darkness and the cold. But he also remembered bright silver light. It came from Harry's wand and it looked almost like a deer. Sometimes in the dream the deer would save him, but sometimes it would not.

If there were more perils like this ahead of them, Dudley was quite glad they had the witch and wizard with them, even if his parents didn't agree. He remembered when the huge man had broken into their shack by the sea and started all of this. Someone had been following them everywhere they went and they couldn't escape. Hopefully with the help of wizards, they could escape this time.

The wizard seemed quite relaxed now that they were on the move. They had driven a few blocks away now. There was the playground where Dudley and his friends had clobbered so many kids. He was going to miss his friends. He wished he could've said good bye to a few of them, but Harry had made it clear that they were to tell no one of their departure beforehand.

How was this fair to Dudley? Why should his family have to hide just because Harry was a targeted man? But the answer came back to him in Harry's voice 'We think Voldemort might try to target you, whether to torture you to get information on me or he thinks by holding you hostage, I might try to save you.'

Would Harry rescue them? If they were caught, would Harry come? Dudley thought he would. Ever since the Dementor, Dudley had been trying to make it up to Harry. He owed him his life, or soul. The problem was, Harry hadn't been around much. This made his parents happy, but it made it harder to be nice to him when he wasn't around.

Obviously Harry hadn't noticed Dudley's attempts, or he wouldn't have said the things he said back in the living room. Dudley didn't think him a waste of space. But Dudley thought he had done a good job of communicating his thanks before they'd left.

He did feel truly sorry for the way he had treated Harry for the first ten years of their lives. At seventeen, Dudley had finally matured. He wasn't a bully anymore, though he was still large and strong. Most of the time he could direct his strength to sports, like boxing. Dudley and his gang had stopped beating kids up, and now Dudley was relatively well liked, instead of feared. But he was leaving all of that now. Gone, and to apparently never to return.

The witch looked anxious. She kept glancing out of the window next to Dudley, who was in the middle of the backseat between her and his mother. The witch had said they might die. But Dudley did not want to think about that now. They cruised a few more miles in silence, the family taking their last looks at their home city. Dudley looked out of the back window behind him, was it his imagination or was there a huge, dark bird flying above them? He looked up at the clouds, but whatever he had seen was gone.

It had to be his imagination, right? The witch was just making him nervous, so he was seeing things. That had to be it. Still, Dudley kept looking out of the window behind him. After a few minutes the witch exclaimed, "That's the signal! They'll be leaving now."

"Good, good," the wizard said, still playing around with buttons and knobs. Dudley had a feeling if his father didn't see the wan d in the wizard's hand, he would be yelling at him right now. Dudley looked behind him again. He received a shock when he saw red and green lights high up in the air and miles behind them.

"What's that?" Dudley asked, pointing. The witch turned around. She shrieked.

"Dedalus, I think they've been ambushed!" The wizard turned around too. He gave a yelp and yelled for Mr. Dursley to step on the gas.

"What's happening?" Dudley asked, frightened again.

The witch answered him, "Harry was going to fly away to a safe house. They used six decoys, just in case, because they thought He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named would have spies out. But I don't think Mad Eye expected them to be ambushed like that. There must be at least twenty Death Eaters up there with them! Dedalus how could He have known they were moving him tonight?"

"I don't know! It doesn't make any sense!" Dedalus was no longer relaxed, but extremely flustered.

"Hang on," Dudley said slowly, "If they know that they were moving Harry, wouldn't they know we were leaving too?" The witch's expression changed from fearful to terrified.

"He's right, Dedalus!" she squealed. Dudley's stomach sank.

"What is that?" his mother shrieked, pointing out of her own window. At first Dudley thought it was a dementor, but then he saw that it was human. A man was in a long black cloak flying beside the car on what appeared to be a broom. Before Dudley could process what this meant, the witch had pointed her wand at the figure and shouted something that sound like 'Stupefy!' Red light shot from her wand. The glass window shattered onto his mother's lap as the light passed through it. The light hit the figure directly and Dudley could no longer see him.

Dudley had not realized how fast they had been going until the engine began spluttering. He looked at the speedometer as it fell from 120 to 0. The car had broken down. His dad swore loudly as his mother shrieked again. Fear gripped Dudley.

Light illuminated the car from the outside. About six beams of light surrounded them. Dudley could vaguely see a figure behind each wand. They were trapped.

The witch screamed "Duck!" just as each beam of light turned red. Dudley did as he was told, heart pounding as he crouched over. He could hear laughing from outside. Dudley looked to his left and saw his mother, sitting up but unconscious.

"Mum!" he yelled now sitting back up, trying to wake her up. The laughter grew louder. Dudley heard a loud pop and looked to the front seat to see his father and the wizard disappear. The witch yelled to grab her hand. He did so as well as grabbing a hold of his mother.

Everything became black. He thought of dementors, but then he felt a hard squeeze. He felt like he was being pushed through a rubber tube of some sorts. He couldn't open his eyes. He couldn't breathe. And then it was over. There was no laughter. They were no longer in the car at all. He gasped for breath. His father and the wizard were beside them, his father catching his breath and swearing loudly.

"They didn't catch a hold of you did they, Hestia?" the wizard asked.

"No but they Stunned his aunt," she replied, straightening herself up.

"Petunia!" Vernon roared. "Your lot killed her! She's dead!"

"Didn't you just hear me?" asked the witch, clearly annoyed, "She's only Stunned. Look, she's coming 'round now." It was true, Dudley's mother was stirring. Dudley realized he was shaking. Two minutes into this whole thing and they were already attacked. How would they get through this?

The worst part was, they were defenseless. The witch and wizard had wands, but what could Dudley do? He couldn't fist fight them, and that was all he knew how to do. Again Dudley was extremely thankful that they had the witch and wizard with them.

"What the devil happened back there?" spluttered his dad once he'd made sure his mum was okay.

"I still can't figure out how they knew we were moving you lot tonight!" the wizard said distractedly.

"Who knew? For God's sake explain yourself man!" his dad was furious. His in the dark, Dudley could still see his mustache quivering.

"Vernon, let's just go home!" his mother said weakly, lying on the grass. They were in what looked like a pasture. Dudley had never been anywhere like this before.

"You can't go home, dear," Hestia said gently. "That's where the Death Eaters are right now. They'll probably be keeping a few patrolling the area just in case you do try to go back."

"What are Death Eaters?" Dudley knew Harry had talked about them, but he couldn't remember exactly what he'd said about them.

"Death Eaters are You-Know-Who's supporters," Dedalus answered. Different colors were flying out of his wand as he began circling around them.

"What in blazes are you doing?" Vernon asked. The wizard waited a few moments before answering. When he was done with the magic, he turned to Vernon.

"I was casting protective spells over us and over the area in case they find us, which is highly doubtful." he turned to the witch, "Hestia, you don't think there was a traitor among them?"

"I don't know who it could be. It just doesn't make sense. Oh I do hope they all made it safely." she looked deeply concerned. "Do you think we should send the signal?"

"I don't know if it's safe to right now," Dedalus replied. Neither the witch nor the wizard was as cheerful as they had been only ten minutes ago. "I think it best we wait for their signal instead."

"What signal?" Vernon asked. He hated not being in control of the situation. And he was definitely not in control of this situation.

"Molly's signal," Hestia replied. When Vernon still didn't look satisfied she added, "It will tell us that your nephew got there safely."

So they waited. Dedalus drew up a fire around which they sat. It was cold here. Dudley asked if they were still in the country. Hestia said yes, but that they had traveled some hundred miles northern.

"But how?" Vernon asked. He looked very confused. "All you did was grab me, and then we were here! It makes no sense."

"We Disapparated," Dedalus said simply. When Vernon still looked confused he said, "It's our way of getting from one place to another. You Muggles use cars, and we Apparate. Our way is much faster and more efficient, but Muggles can't do it. You have to be with a wizard who has a wand to do it."

"Well, why can't the Death Lunchers or whatever Apporate here too?" Vernon asked, mispronouncing most of his question. Dedalus smiled before replying,

"Because they don't know where we Disapparated to."

"Dedalus the signal!" Hestia had jumped up and was pointed to a silver blur. A large bright weasel appeared. "Oh good, that means Arthur is okay too," Hestia said.

The weasel opened its mouth and spoke in a vaguely familiar voice, "Harry is safe. The Death Eaters ambushed us. We're all right. Mad Eye's dead. Send word." And then the weasel disappeared.

Hestia pointed her wand in front of her. A possum appeared at her feet, bright and silver like the weasel. She then spoke to the possum, "We're all right. We were followed too but we got away. We're going to the safe point now." And with that, the possum ran at lightning speed into the darkness.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not in any way own Harry Potter or any of its characters.**

**Chapter 2**

For the first time in Dudley's life, he spent the night outdoors. He'd never been camping before, and he didn't care for it much. Bugs crawled around in their tent, which was much too large to be possible. Dudley also thought that it was probably impossible to have piping and electricity built into fabric like this. More magic. Dudley did not sleep well that night. He dreamt of the magical world. Dementors, Death Eaters, and silver animals.

He did not understand this world but he didn't despise it like his parents. Vernon grumbled about raving lunatics while his mother complained about the ugly enchanted carpet. They were all very shaken but did not want to show it.

At least they were all safe, including Harry. The witch had said someone named Mad Eye had died; Dudley remembered him from the train station. The eye had been creepy and inhuman. The man had threatened his father to take better care of Harry. Vernon was not easily intimidated, but this guy had done it. But he had died. Last night. Only a few miles away, and up according to the wizard. Dudley shuddered. No one had found the man's body.

The witch had received another message explaining what had happened to everyone. They knew Mad Eye had died when You-Know-Who himself had chased them. Someone named Mundungus had abandoned him to save himself. This infuriated the witch and wizard. One of the red haired twins that had given Dudley the horrible candy had lost an ear. Dudley couldn't imagine how that would feel or look, and he did not really want to. His father said the boy deserved it.

They learned that You-Know-Who had found Harry and chased him until he crashed at the safe house. His mother was pleased to hear that the infernal owl of Harry's had been shot.

And lastly, they learned that a man called Severus Snape was the reason they'd been attacked.

At this news, his mother gasped. "Snape?"

"Have you met him?" the wizard asked interestedly. Petunia looked scared. She hated knowing bits of the magical world. Yet she spoke, as if she couldn't hold her information in.

"He lived near us when Lily and I were children. He was a nasty, spying boy. I hated him. He was ugly with poor taste in clothing. He spied on watching Lily and me when I was twelve. He's the one who told her what she was. They became friends. He was a horrible boy who hurt me with his magic. He took my personal property. I couldn't stand him." She finished and looked around nervously. She was very embarrassed. Vernon looked shocked at the idea of her being neighbors with a wizard.

"Well, he hasn't changed," Dedalus said sadly. "We thought he was on our side, but it turns out he was spying for You-Know-Who the entire time. Just last month he killed Dumbledore."

"Dubledore?" Vernon asked. "The crackpot with the long beard?"

"Yes," Hestia laughed sadly, "he was sometimes a bit odd, but he was brilliant."

"The greatest wizard of all time," Dedalus got a far off look in his eyes. The Dursleys were silent, not knowing what to say about the man they knew to be a freak.

"Can you believe the rubbish Rita Skeeter has written about him?" Hestia asked, suddenly angry.

"I've actually heard some of its true," Dedalus responded. "I'm planning on getting the book just to see if the rumors make sense or not."

"Well, I won't read it," Hestia retorted angrily.

"Sorry," Vernon interrupted, though he was not sorry at all, "but are we going to be staying in this bloody field forever or can we go somewhere more comfortable?"

"Oh," Dedalus was snapped out of his conversation, "yes we're going to be moving to a more permanent location soon."

"Should we start packing up, Dedalus?" Hestia asked.

"I suppose," he sighed. "We'd better get going."

Dedalus and Hestia quickly packed their belongings and the tent. The Dursleys mostly stood watching. Now that they were being forced to endure magic, it seemed kind of interesting. It was definitely more efficient; the tent was packed within minutes. And it was fascinating; at least to Dudley. He almost wished they could do it. Almost.

The Dursleys reluctantly Apparated again. The destination surprised them. The cabin by the sea.

The very place they'd stayed in their last attempt to outrun wizards.

How thick could you get?

Vernon pointed this fact out immediately. Yet the wizard protested, saying, "We wanted you to be someplace familiar. Hagrid told us that you picked this place when you were trying to… avoid him. It's quite safe out here. Dumbledore had more effective ways of tracking you than the Death Eaters will."

"But… it's filthy in there," Petunia protested.

"Oh, we've remodeled it a bit," Hestia said slyly. She opened up the shabby looking door to the inside.

Dudley pictured the same sandy living room from almost seven years ago, but this was something else entirely. An ornate, beautiful room opened up to them. It was much larger than before. The fire crackled merrily. Elaborate rugs covered the floors. Comfortable looking chairs and sofas were arranged in a pleasing manor. The place was spotless.

An unwilling smile lit Petunia's face. Even Vernon looked happy. Dudley couldn't believe he would be living in a place like this. Their house had been great, but this was _brilliant_! Dudley wished he could show his friends the life he was living now.

At the thought of his friends, Dudley felt another pang of homesickness. As cool as the house was, would they ever be able to leave here? Would they even be able to go over to the main land?

"Would you like to explore a bit?" Dedalus asked coyly, swelling with pride at how much they seemed to enjoy his decorating. The Dursleys didn't even nod; they just walked into their temporary home.

Past the living room, there was a just as beautiful dining room with a crystal chandelier. The kitchen was next. It looked like something Rachel Ray would have been proud to cook in. It seemed every food ingredient and utensil imaginable resided in this kitchen. Petunia actually squealed.

The bathrooms were expensive marble of varying colors. Petunia and Hestia shared one with Dudley, Vernon and Dedalus sharing the other. Hestia, Dedalus and Dudley each had their own room with Petunia and Vernon sharing one.

Dudley loved his room. It was as simple as that. It seemed to have everything his old room had but more. He had a workout station, a computer, a huge bed, a mini fridge, a television, and a walk in closet filled with clothes that had apparently already been magicked up here. There wasn't much decorated, but that was how Dudley preferred it. The other rooms were more or less the same.

This couldn't all be bad, could it?

How very wrong he was.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/n: Sorry for the freakin heckin long update period. Been busy with school. I swear something will actually happen in the future. They won't just sit for like nine months. **

**Chapter 3**

Dudley woke with a start. He'd forgotten where he'd fallen asleep. He looked around the unfamiliar room. He recalled the memories of the past few days. After that first night, not too much had happened. He and his family had tried to live normally, as normally as was possible in this place. There was plenty to do; that wasn't the problem. The problem was that they'd been cooped up for almost a week.

They'd been stranded on this island with almost no news of anything important to them for a whole week! Yeah, they'd heard plenty about the wizarding world, but they hadn't spoken to friend or family. It was odd. Normally they stayed mostly to themselves anyway, but now that they couldn't have any contact with their world, they suddenly very much wanted to.

Dudley looked at his watch. 7.30 A.M. The thirty-first of July. Harry's birthday.

His parents thought it was stupid for wizards to come of age a year sooner than normal people, but Dudley was slightly jealous. He'd been seventeen for a few weeks now and there was nothing special in that. And if things kept going like this, his next birthday wouldn't exactly be giving him any new privileges. He thought about school starting next month without him.

Dedalus had said he'd taken quite a few years of Muggle Studies, so he'd be happy to tutor Dudley should he want it. The term Muggle Studies disturbed the Dursleys. They were not the animals here.

So instead his mother and father would try to 'home school' him in a few subjects. Petunia was better at English and Literature, while Vernon was better at Math and Geography.

The day went by normally. He exercised for an hour or too. Played some video games. Ate breakfast and lunch with his mother and father and Dedalus and Hestia. No one mentioned any birthdays until later that night during dinner. It had been a slow day, but they still hadn't gotten around to dinner until 8.30. Petunia insisted on cooking the meals. Hestia enjoyed watching-she'd apparently had never seen Muggle cooking before now- she found it fascinating.

Again, the Dursleys were _not _the animals here. This was Vernon's opinion as he grumbled a silent retort to Hestia as she exclaimed yet again how marvelous it was that Muggle food could taste just as good as Wizard food.

Dinner passed mostly in silence until Hestia, fidgeting impatiently, said, "I do wish we could go to the party. We haven't been out of this house in five days!"

"What party?" Dudley asked at the same time that Dedalus said, "We can't and you know why!"

Hestia ignored Dedalus and chose to answer Dudley instead, "Your cousin's birthday party."

"Hestia," Dedalus pressed on. "It was a big enough risk for them to be throwing Harry Potter a birthday party in the middle of all of this anyway. It would make it a whole lot worse if we brought his only relatives too! What if something happened?"

"Like what?" Dudley asked, interested.

"Like You-Know-Who could come gate crashing in the middle of it," Hestia answered sullenly. "And Dedalus thinks we might not be able to get out of there quickly enough if that were to happen."

"I don't want to be doing anything risky," Vernon said. He always liked to put his two cents worth into any conversation, no matter how repulsed to the idea he was. And it wasn't like he actually wanted to go to a birthday party for Harry anyway. "If we have to be hiding out here, why would I let you put my family at risk?" Petunia nodded vehemently.

"But I'm so bored!" Hestia groaned. "If I can't go to the party, I'm at least going to find out what's happening. I'll be back in a few minutes."

Dinner became quiet again. Forks and knives clattered against the plates. Vernon couldn't get over how idiotic that witch was to think that they could go to some damn party for his nephew. Petunia kept shaking her head slightly, just to emphasize how strongly against this whole thing she was.

Dudley was the total opposite. He was tired of being cooped up here. How long would he have to stay here? He wanted to do something new. Already, he was completely bored with his surroundings. Why not go to a party?

Despite himself and his parents, Dudley was really starting to like magic. He was almost jealous of Harry and his entire world. Yeah, now he was in that world too, but it was more by default than anything. He was only here because of Harry. Life was so much easier with magic. You could disappear at will, conjure anything you wanted, and do whatever you could possibly imagine. Was Dudley jealous? Yes.

But, obviously, the magical world had its downsides. It was more terrifying when a magical person went bad than when a normal person did. They would never have needed to hide from a normal person like this. In this world, rules didn't seem to apply. Complete chaos.

Dedalus said it hadn't always been like this. Dudley had to remember to ask him more about the way things were before.

Hestia entered looking flustered but excited. "The minister was visiting them! He had to give them the contents of Dumbledore's will!"

"Wait, what?" Dedalus asked, confused. "Who?"

"Harry, Ron, and Hermione!" Hestia continued excitedly. "The minister cornered Arthur at work and then came home to the party with him. He wanted to see the kids alone. Apparently Harry lost his temper and the minister stormed off a few minutes later. But not without giving them what Dumbledore left them!"

"Dumbledore left things to all three of them?" Dedalus asked, shocked. "Harry I understand, but Ron and Hermione…"

"I know, but the things he gave them were even more peculiar." Hestia paused for dramatic effect. Vernon and Petunia were confused but tried not to show it. Dudley was interested. "He gave Ron the Illuminator he himself invented. We have no idea why. He gave Hermione a book of children's tales in Runes. Still, no idea why. As for Harry, he left him the sword of Gryffindor and a snitch."

"The sword of Gryffindor," Dedalus whistled. "Did Dumbledore think Harry could defeat You-Know-Who with it or something?"

"Well that was the minister's line of thought. Unfortunately, the ministry wouldn't let him have it. They said it was the property of the school and not Dumbledore's to give away."

"Well that's too bad, but not surprising either." Dedalus sighed.

"What was the other thing Harry got?" Dudley piped up. His parents gave him shocked looks. Both for being able to follow this kind of talk and for being interested in it.

"Oh, yes, it was a snitch," replied Hestia. "I think it was the first one he ever caught. The minister thought it might be hiding something inside."

"Well, was it?" Dedalus asked excitedly.

"Nothing that they can tell," Hestia sighed. "None of them can get it open."

"Oh," Dedalus became bored again. "Anything else happening?"

"Not really," Hestia sat down. "Molly said that Harry, Ron and Hermione were planning on leaving after the wedding."

"What? Where to? What for?" Dedalus's moods were bouncing from bored to excited a lot this evening.

"They won't tell anyone," Hestia shrugged. "They keep saying Dumbledore left them stuff to do."

"And no one in the Order knows about it?" Dedalus asked incredulously.

"Well, you know how Dumbledore was. He trusted Harry completely and he always had his reasons."

"That's true. But it is still very risky. The last thing we need is the Chosen One getting killed on some heroic mission. Don't misinterpret me, I want Harry to beat You-Know-Who, but not at age 17! Not so soon and so young!" Dedalus was shocked at the very idea, even though he didn't actually know what the mission was, it wasn't exactly hard to guess.

"Well, Harry has beaten him what," Hestia counted on her fingers, "Five times now? What's one more?"

"What's one more?! Everything! Everything is relying on Harry staying alive. I mean, he hasn't even graduated from Hogwarts yet! How could he possibly do anything against Him?"

"It's not like Hogwarts is the safest place right now. With Dumbledore gone, nothing would protect Harry from invading Death Eaters. You-Know-Who could just waltz in at any moment."

"That's true; we probably won't be able to keep Harry hidden from Him much longer. He'll find a way in our defenses eventually." Dedalus pointed out.

"Yes, but by then Harry will be off doing this mission. Hopefully he gets to You-Know-Who before it's the other way around." Hestia said hopefully.

The Dursleys had been very quiet. Vernon and Petunia had been pretending not to be curious or interested, but Dudley was confused. "Why would Harry have to do anything with Vold-"

"Don't say the name!" Dedalus cut him off. Dudley mumbled a quiet 'sorry' as he waited for an answer. "What do you mean why?" Dedalus was the confused one now.

"You mean you lot don't even know?" Hestia screeched. "You've lived with Harry Potter for 16 years and you don't even know his story? I could see that you weren't exactly close, but this I never expected!"

The Dursleys faces reddened a touch. They didn't like to get called on how negligent they had been to Harry.

"Okay, let's start from the beginning." Dedalus sighed. "This is going to take awhile."

That night, whether Vernon and Petunia liked it or not, they learned a lot about the wizarding world. Dudley was fascinated and impressed. Had Harry really done all of those things? And he had thought the dementors were a big deal! The whole story was pretty creepy. Harry had a kind of stalker who had been trying to kill him for years for no apparent reason. Of course they had found that out after the dementor, but this made it all fit together so much more clearly.

Dudley's aunt and uncle had been killed by this man but Harry had stopped him with magic as a baby?! Then at Hogwarts he had faced his ghost or something? Then he had killed a huge snake and faced a werewolf and one hundred dementors. Then he had faced the killer again and dueled for his life. Then he broke into the wizards' government to stop the killer from stealing something. He had watched many of his friends and family die. And now he had just escaped the killer again hundreds of feet above the ground.

That was a pretty impressive track record for seventeen years old.

So Harry, his cousin who had been forced to mow the lawn and do chores by his parents for years, was destined to beat the most powerful wizard of all time and save the magical world? Wow. Dudley couldn't picture it. He would just have to see what Harry did.

He didn't have to wait long before it started. The very next day, Hestia informed them that death Eaters had crashed the wedding. No one was hurt, but they were looking for Harry. Hestia said he'd been disguised so they hadn't found him. Dedalus whooped, but then his face fell.

"Hestia, how did Death Eaters get into the wedding?"

"That's just it Dedalus." Hestia had started crying. "Scrimgeour is dead. The ministry has fallen. You-Know-Who is in control now." Dedalus's face whitened. Even the Dursleys understood how very bad this was.

"So… is Harry gone?" Dedalus asked.

"Yes, the three of them have left. May god help them act quickly out there."

Dudley had numerous nightmares that night. Dedalus had described what the killer looked like. Dudley would have liked to just call him Voldemort, but Dedalus and Hestia wouldn't let him. Dudley dreamed of skulls with red eyes and bone white hands all night. He dreamed of them being captured by the Death Eaters and brought before this terrible man, if you could even call him that.

Things were definitely going downhill now. Dudley sincerely hoped Harry could win again.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/n: So this is where it finally gets interesting. I'll be zooming over to Harry's point of view after this chapter. Also, this is a month or two into the future, so sorry if you get confused. This chapter is kind of long. Sorry for the science stuff in the middle.**

**Chapter 4**

September was ending and it was getting cold. A lot had happened in the past two months. Well, not with the Dursleys, they had been bored out of their minds. No, it was the outside magical world that was in turmoil. Dedalus had reported news of Muggle torturing and killings; of kidnapping young eleven year old Hogwarts hopefuls. Dedalus said they would probably never see their families again. Dudley didn't understand what the wizards had against their own kind.

Dedalus told him that most wizards didn't, it just so happened that the wizard in power wanted to exterminate all the wizards with Muggle backgrounds. He said the Muggle torturing were just for fun. Fun. A shiver passed through Dudley's spine every time they heard new news of these horrible events.

He still didn't understand why they were hurting wizards. They were all sort of the same… thing, so why would they hunt themselves?

Hestia told him that You-Know-Who was telling them that the witches and wizards who had no magical background (who were known as Muggle Borns) had "stolen the magical power from other witches or wizards". You-Know-Who said he just wanted them for questioning, but everyone knew that he would kill them all at the first chance.

Many were fleeing the country; the Dursleys were wondering why they were still in Britain if they were in such danger, but Dedalus tried to assure them that the danger to them wasn't that great at the moment. They were safe and protected. Hestia was very nervous about the whole affair; she was a Muggle Born witch.

"Is it possible?" Dudley asked. "To steal magic?"

"Of course not!" Hestia snapped rather tartly. Embarrassed she amended, "At least I've never actually heard of it being possible."

"So…" Dudley didn't know how to phrase his next question without sounding like a git. "So, can Muggles, like me, do…?"

"Do magic?" Hestia prodded. Dudley nodded bashfully. He had been longing to try for a while now. "Well, Dudley I don't really know, I've never seen a Muggle do magic." They sat in silence.

Lately, the family had taken to going to the main land if only for an hour; it was something to do at least. They always had to have either Dedalus or Hestia with them, because it was very risky, but every day they usually made one trip over. They didn't do much, they bought food or clothes or a game or two. They onetime went to a show. None of them like being cooped up like this, they all wanted out. At the moment, Dedalus and his parents were at the mainland searching for a new movie to watch. Hestia and Dudley were all alone in the house and very bored.

Dudley had deliberately not gone to the mainland today so he could try this. "Do, you think, maybe I could… try?"

"I don't see why not. " Hestia shrugged. Under the cool exterior, she was actually very curious as to whether this Muggle, the cousin of the Chosen One, could perhaps do magic. She slowly handed him her wand. Dudley took it tenderly. He sat there, feeling quite stupid. "What do I do with it?"

"Oh, of course!" Hestia exclaimed. "Hmm, let's start out with something simple. What's a spell I learned in first year? Oh yes! Try saying _Wingardium Leviosa_. Stress the 'gar' and the 'o' when you say it."

Dudley was very nervous but excited. What would this magic do? "Wigedum Levosa!" He tried. Nothing. Hestia smiled kindly when Dudley looked expectantly at her.

"Sorry. I'm not the best teacher." She smiled apologetically. "Well dear, you didn't pronounce it right, but that just takes practice. And I forgot to tell you the wand movement that goes along with it. You're supposed to move your wrist like this." She demonstrated a kind of swish and flick movement. Dudley nodded, concentrating very hard. He repeated the move without the incantation. Hestia nodded approvingly.

"Now point it at this tea cup and say _Wingardium Leviosa_." Dudley tried again. Nothing. He was getting more vexed by the second. But this only made him more determined.

He tried again. He said it exactly as Hestia had instructed him to. He did the move identically to what she had shown him. He pointed the piece of wood and with all of his concentration focused only on that cup. This time he felt and odd warmth in his fingers. He could've sworn he saw the cup wobble a tiny bit.

Hestia jumped up and cheered. She even hugged Dudley, and he didn't even mind. Her broad smile was enough to tell him that he indeed had just done magic. Him, a Muggle, do magic! Sure, it hadn't been very good or powerful, but he had just made a cup move without touching it! This was awesome! "What was that supposed to do?" he asked her expectantly.

"Well, the object was supposed to fly. But that was a _very_ good first attempt. A Muggle! Great Merlin above! Who would've ever thought this was possible!"

"_Wingardium Leviosa. Wingardium Leviosa! Wingardium Leviosa!_ Hestia I think it moved again!" Dudley was trembling he was so happy. But Hestia's face had fallen. Dudley noticed. "What?"

"I don't think Dedalus or your parents will like this very much."

"What? No of course they will. Why wouldn't they?" Dudley protested, but he knew she was right. Of course his parents would be appalled at the idea of his actually doing magic. They hated the very word. He remembered them locking Harry up and abusing him because he could do magic. Would they do that to him? No, but they wouldn't tolerate him doing magic either.

"Dedalus will be furious with me if he finds out! As if we weren't in enough danger without me teaching you to do magic! This in itself has to be illegal. Dudley, how old are you?"

"Um, seventeen last May."

"Okay, so at least you're not underage. I can't believe I was so foolish, what if you'd been sixteen! We could've had You-Know-Who himself barging down the door. Just, forget everything I just taught you."

"I can't forget this! _Wingardium Leviosa_!" Dudley was so worked up that he actually sent the cup zooming towards a wall. It crashed and broke, but Dudley could hardly care. "Did you see that? We can't stop now! Teach me more! Please. This could help in the future, you know, if I ever have to defend myself or something."

"That's true…" Hestia really did want to keep teaching him, she knew it was wrong and there were a thousand reasons not to, but the fact that a Muggle could pick up a wand and do this opened up so many possibilities to her. She could teach her family enough magic to protect them. They could get out of this shack more often and go more places. There were so many possibilities! "Dudley, we really shouldn't…"

"Please. I've been jealous of Harry for so long, and now I know that I don't have to be. I can do what you can. Let me!"

--

A week later they'd made little progress. They still couldn't tell Vernon, Petunia, or Dedalus because Hestia was sure they would get in trouble. When they went out on the mainland they told the others they were going to look at videogames, something that didn't interest Dudley's parents or Dedalus. Hestia did actually want to look at videogames, but Dudley reminded her that they had work to do.

He had mastered the flying spell. Now they were working a little on self-defense. When Dudley had broken the teacup, Hestia had taught him Reparo, which had been surprisingly simple to master. Now he was trying very hard to master Expelliarmus. It was rather difficult since they only had one wand to work with. Hestia wasn't discouraged that it was taking so long; she knew it was a hard spell. He was working very hard, and his parents still had no idea.

They had no idea of the storm of change that was going on inside of him. He was kind of a wizard! Hestia thought that perhaps he could do magic because he was related to wizards. She wasn't certain, but that's all she had to go on. She told him that he would probably never be a very powerful wizard, or else he would've shown magical capability before now. She also doubted he would be able to do anything beyond a first year's training, but they would do as much as they could.

"_Expelliarmus_!" Dudley tried again. He felt the familiar warmth of the wand. Hestia wished they could go buy one for him, but Ollivander had disappeared months ago.

"I felt the stick twitch!" she exclaimed. Dudley had the wand, so she improvised by finding a normal twig to substitute.

"Really?"

"Yes, I'm positive! You're doing great, Dudley! If things were different, we could've enrolled you into Hogwarts!"

"Thanks." Dudley smiled. How great would that have been? Sure, he would've been seven years behind his peers, but still.

Hestia had been researching Muggle Borns. Most people thought it had to do with genes. There were a fair number of Squibs in the Muggle community, and if they had children, they probably passed the gene onto them. Whether or not the gene would appear wasn't certain. Most Squibs denied their heritage because they were embarrassed; they would rather their child be known as a Muggle Born than the child of a Squib. So no matter how little magical blood they had, the gene could possibly turn up in their child. If the gene did turn up, Hestia suspected that it became stronger and stronger as it was passed; so once there was a Muggle Born, their children would be wizards. This was all theory, of course.

So Harry and Dudley had no visible magical heritage. Squibs weren't recorded in magical history; there was no record of them. Hestia suspected that somewhere in the Evan's ancestry there had been a Squib who had started the gene trend; which means that somewhere farther back in the line there was probably a witch or wizard.

A Muggle Born was still a miracle, but put scientifically, it made sense. So the gene hadn't shown up in Petunia as it had Lily, but it still seemed to show up in Dudley, but not nearly as strong as most wizards.

This confused Dudley a lot, but he just smiled and nodded his head.

That night Dedalus informed them all that he had seen Lupin while out in the city that day. They'd been trading stories, and Dedalus had learned some very interesting news.

"You can't be serious!" Hestia exclaimed. "You must be joking. There is no way they'd be that bloody stupid."

"What? What?" Dudley had always hated being excluded from conversation, especially interesting gossip. So was the life of the spoiled only child.

"Harry, Ron and Hermione broke into the ministry a few weeks ago!" Hestia was shocked. "The bloody idiots! Why would they do something like that right now? What could've possibly been the purpose?"

"I don't know," Dedalus said excitedly. "Some people think he was going into the Department of Mysteries again, but we know there's nothing left in there for him. I don't know what they were doing, but I think they got it done."

"Well how do you know that?" Hestia asked impatiently. "Will you _please_ fill me in a bit here?"

"Okay. Okay." Dedalus held his palms up apologetically. "They were impersonating ministry officials. Lupin said Harry was actually impersonating a Death Eater!" Hestia whistled. "Anyway, they were messing about in Umbridge's office; but they couldn't find anything else missing besides Mad Eye's eye."

They'd already heard about the eye. "Well how did they get caught?" Hestia asked with rapt attention. Even Petunia and Vernon were leaning towards Dedalus to listen.

"Well, you know how they love to play the hero," Dedalus laughed and Hestia nodded worriedly. "Well, apparently they found a lot of Muggle Borns being interrogated. They couldn't help themselves, they just had to help them. They warded off all of the dementors and led them all outside. Because Harry was a Death Eater, no one questioned them until they ran into another Yaxley, another Death Eater."

"Then what?" Dudley asked impatiently.

"Then, get this, Ron's double runs up to them and blows their whole cover!" Dedalus had stood up. "They ran for it and got all of the Muggle Borns out of there safely. They then tried to Apparate…"

"Where?"Hestia interrupted.

"Lupin told me that they'd been hiding in Grimmauld place. He said it had been working pretty well for them, until now," he paused. "Well, you know how neither Harry nor Ron has passed their Apparition tests so Hermione has been taking them around?"

"Yes of course. Please get on with it!" Hestia said anxiously.

"Well, Lupin told me Yaxley grabbed her ankle right before she Apparated. She accidentally showed him Grimmauld Place! They got away pretty quickly after that, but the Death Eaters can all get in there now. It's not good, who knows what that House Elf has told them by now?"

"That bloody rodent that Harry owns?" Vernon asked impertinently. It was rather irksome to always be left out of the conversation. He and Petunia had hardly spoken in the past few months.

"I suppose you could call Kreacher that," Dedalus rubbed his neck tiredly.

"So where did they go?" Hestia asked again.

"Lupin told me that they're watching any place that Harry has ever come in contact with. I suppose it's lucky they haven't found us yet. Anyway, he has no idea where they went. He's heard that they are abroad roaming the forests like nomads. Biding their time, I guess."

"What do you suppose they're doing?" Hestia asked in awe. She couldn't imagine living like that.

"I guess they're trying to find a way to stop You-Know-Who." Dedalus shrugged. "They would have a much easier time if they would let some of the Order help. Lupin said he'd offered but they'd turned him down. Dumbledore said they had always liked to do things on their own."

Hestia whistled. "I still say it was bloody stupid for them to risk their necks out there like." She paused. "I really wonder what they're doing right now."

Bloody brilliant if you ask me, Dudley thought to himself. Harry had broken into the high security building controlled by man that wanted to kill him; which was a lot more action than they'd had lately.

"Well that's just it!" Dedalus exclaimed. "I forgot to tell you the best part! Lupin and a few other Order members have come up with this brilliant radio program. It requires a password so not just anyone can listen in. Here let me show you." He summoned the radio over to him and began fiddling with the dial and muttering random words.

Suddenly the radio came to life and voices floated in. They spoke of everything they had just heard from Dedalus, but with more detail. "That's Lupin!" Hestia exclaimed. "And Kingsley! And Fred and George! This is spectacular!"

"I know. They do this about once a week."

"… And just today I met an old friend of mine who is currently protecting Harry Potter's only living relatives, the Dursleys," the voice of Lupin sounded through the speakers. "They are in hiding but are doing just fine. Also I would like to give a shout out to Royal. Tell them what you did yesterday, Royal."

"Well Romulus, yesterday I had about twenty Death Eaters come to my home and try to kill me." The slow deep voice that Dudley had heard only once before commented. "Just an everyday Tuesday for most Order Members nowadays. Luckily they were all idiots, so I Stupefied every one of them within minutes. Yeah, I'll have a few battle scars myself, but I definitely came out better in that fight."

"And that leads me to point out that parents, you should be teaching your children to Stupefy. It could save their lives," Dudley glanced at Hestia, who nodded slightly.

"And if you want to, you could practice on you little brother or sister for fun. I've knocked out my associate here quite a few times. You know, to protect myself from Death Eaters and all." Dudley recognized the voice of one of the redheaded twins that he despised. They had given him horrible magical sweets. Now, he could almost see why that would be funny. He supposed it was only because he was on the other side of it now-the wizard side. Odd.

"And that concludes our program for tonight. The password for next week will be 'we hope Harry kills You-Know-Who really soon'. See you next week, folks." The radio died.

"That was fantastic!" Hestia exclaimed. Dedalus and even Dudley nodded in agreement, much to Vernon and Petunia's dismay. "I really do hope Harry kills You-Know-Who soon."

"Let's hope so," Dedalus sighed, though they could all feel that the end of this crisis was nowhere in sight. They would be here for quite a while longer.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

It was starting to get cold on their little rock. The ocean spray that had been so comforting was now an evil menace best left alone. Though there was always a fire lit, they still were forced to bundle up in extra layers within their own home. Vernon insisted they get electric heating installed, but Dedalus argued that this shack wasn't built for that kind of thing. And no one was to know they were there.

Out in the wizarding world, things were not going well at all. Families were torn apart; people were being tortured more and more. The worst part was, if anyone tried to stand up to this new regime, their families were killed and they were tortured. Dedalus told them how You-know-Who was controlling people's minds so they would be forced to follow him. If anyone grew too strong, they were either wiped out entirely or taken in as an Imperiused Death Eater.

Harry was the exception. There had been a massive man hunt for Harry Potter for over four months, yet he was still at large. You-Know-Who had put out the story that he wanted Harry for questioning about Dumbledore's death, as Harry was the only witness. Only the most idiotic of the gits actually believed this, everyone knew You-Know-Who wanted Potter dead as quickly as possible.

There was a huge reward for his capture; many of the darker wizards were searching fruitlessly for him. You-Know-Who promised eternal glory to the one that brought him Potter. The weekly Anti-You-Know-Who radio program had been urging people to help Harry if they saw him. Not that anyone had seen him. Some believed he had actually left the country, but the Order members knew he was still out there, doing whatever mission Dumbledore had left him.

How had Harry evaded Him for so long when all over highly esteemed Order members and Aurors were being captured and killed? How was You-Know-Who finding them all? How was Harry avoiding him? Where was he?

On their little island, they felt fairly secure in their safety. They constantly worried about their friends or family on the outside, but they were okay. They were perfectly protected. They all repeated those words over and over to themselves during the day, but that didn't stop the nightmares when at night. If all of these highly trained wizards could be found and taken down so easily, then why not them? What was stopping You-Know-Who from finding them?

Dedalus thought that it was perhaps because they weren't very important targets. There were plenty of people You-Know-Who wanted to find, and the Dursleys were a bit lower on his list. They were safe as long as they remained lower on that list.

After two months of practicing magic with Hestia, Dudley still hadn't gotten very far. He had learned Summoning and Expelliarmus, and now he was working on Stupefying. He was having a very difficult time, as they had so little time to practice anyway. Now that it was getting colder, the family was going shopping less and less, so they had fewer opportunities to practice. It was time to tell them.

"Mum, Dad?" Dudley asked tentatively. He was standing awkwardly in the middle of the living room in front of a roaring fire. His mother put down her knitting and his father folded the paper. Dudley cleared his throat. Hestia was upstairs breaking the news to Dedalus. "Lately… I've been doing some stuff with Hestia." His face reddened as he watched his mother's face pale. "No, no, no, not _that, _Mum!" Great, now he was _really_ embarrassed. "I meant, well… she's been teaching me… magic." He stopped. He had whispered the last word so that Vernon and Petunia were thoroughly confused.

"What? Son speak up!" Vernon barked. He thought that perhaps the last word had started with an 'M', but no, that was impossible.

"Magic! She's teaching me magic!" Dudley rubbed his hand over his eyes, waiting for the effect that this louder remark had made. After a moment of silence, he removed his hand.

They hadn't moved. Hestia had told him of a spell that could freeze people. She told him she could possibly teach it to him later. "Mum, Dad?" he repeated. Their faces were frozen in shock. Petunia looked close to tears, and Vernon's face was steadily growing redder. Dudley had seen this happen many times before, but he had never been the target. It had always been Harry.

A few more seconds passed. Vernon was turning purple, about to blow. "Dad?" Dudley asked timidly.

"You, did, WHAT?" Vernon roared. Dudley could almost see lava flow from the volcano's mouth. He cringed back the slightest bit; he was not used to his father talking to him like this. Maybe they would lock him up. "Are you MENTAL?" all Dudley could do was stand there and take it.

"All this time, when we've been out shopping, that's what you've been doing?" Petunia asked quietly. He looked his mother in the eyes and nodded. She looked like she was about to faint. Dudley also noticed a glimmer of something other than tears in her eyes, was it jealousy? No that would be unreasonable. "Why?" was all she could say.

"Mum, it could be really useful. Hestia said we're pretty safe here, but if we needed to defend ourselves, at least I could be a little helpful. When we left the house, didn't you hate being completely powerless against those Death Eaters?"

"Of course but…"

"Well, this could really help us in the future!" Dudley could tell he'd sold his mother on the subject. If it would keep her little boy safe, of course she would condone it. He turned back to his father who was still shaking. Vernon was looking from Dudley to Petunia, probably wondering what he had married into. Vernon could also see that the battle with Petunia was lost; he was on his own.

"Now, see here, Dudley…" his voice trailed off as he tried to think of something to say. "I won't let my son get involved in this… crackpot magic! You can't be a, a wizard! No, I won't allow it!" He had whispered 'wizard', as if to lessen the pain it caused emerging from his mouth. He looked absolutely disgusted.

"Dad," Dudley pleaded, "Please. Let me do this. I've wanted to for so long, and now I can! I know you hate magic…"

"Like hell I do!" Vernon interrupted.

"But I kinda like it, and I think mum does too," Dudley looked again at his mother who was gazing at him oddly. Dudley could only imagine the torture she'd gone through growing up.

Dudley hadn't exactly lived in Harry's shadow at his house. His mother had a sister who could do magic. She had to watch her go off to Hogwarts and learn magic while she had to learn how to become a housewife. Dudley had been jealous of Harry, even though his parents had basically tortured him for his abilities. Apparently his aunt had been favored for hers.

She said nothing, but stood up and walked away without a backwards glance at Dudley. "Look what you did!" Vernon roared as he lumbered after his wife, who could be heard sobbing up the stairs.

Dudley stood alone in the room. What had he done?

--

"Vernon, it's not fair!" Petunia cried. She was face down on their bed. Vernon closed the door behind him. This was the closest thing he had ever seen to a temper tantrum from his wife. It was very uncomfortable.

"I know," he replied softly. It was odd to use such a quiet voice after all the yelling he had just done. "Don't worry, we'll run away from here before we let those idiots teach our son magic."

"No!" Petunia screamed. Vernon was confused now.

"What?"

"It's not fair that everyone can do it, but I can't!" she sounded like a two year old and she knew it, but she had been suppressing these feelings for so long. They were all going to spill out now. Vernon was shocked, did she mean what he thought she meant?

"You want to do… magic?" he cringed involuntarily. Petunia stopped crying. She lay motionless, not even breathing. What the bloody hell was happening around him?

"I'm so sorry," she whispered. "This isn't fair to you at all," It bloody well wasn't. Vernon wasn't even really related to the kid, but it wasn't like he was about to abandon his family or anything. Still, every day he had to stay cooped up here, a little more hate would build up towards the wizarding world.

"It's alright, this will all be over soon," He knew this was a lie. He had forced Dedalus to tell him how bad it really was. Dedalus informed him that it looked like the end was nowhere near. He had said they could be here for months, maybe even years. It all depended on how things played out.

Petunia was shaking. He couldn't understand what she was feeling, no one could. Her _little _sister had always been better than her in everything. Her parents had always loved Lily more than her. Lily was so _special_. And then her little freak of a son shows up on their doorstep because she and her moronic husband got themselves blown up.

So instead of her living out the normal, happy life she had been forced to live, Petunia had to take Lily's son. Lily had never done anything for her. Why should she have to ruin her life for her? Why should she have to be cooped up here just for being related to her?

This was all Lily's fault, if she'd just been normal, none of this would have ever happened. But Petunia couldn't lie to herself, she knew that she was extremely jealous of Lily, and the nine years of magical life she had led. Yes, she had died young, but she had truly lived. After Lily's first year at Hogwarts, she had started to come home less and less. Petunia pretended she didn't miss her, she pretended she hated her; but deep down, she knew that Lily had been her best friend.

Magic had ruined her life in more ways than she could count, but things might've turned out differently had she been in Lily's boat. If she could actually _do_ magic, then this could totally be different. She could've gone to Hogwarts and had an exciting life. She wouldn't be stuck on this rock.

Life could've been so different. So much better… and fun. She had always traveled the typical route. She had always followed the customary procedure. Now Dudley wanted to go away from normal and towards her sister's very different path. Could she really deny him the chance for the new, exciting life? Or could she force him to carry out his life in the orderly manner that she had been forced to live, not by choice, but by elimination?

And could this really keep her boy safe? Magic hadn't helped Lily when was faced with danger, why would Dudley be any different? But she knew that it was better than him staying like a sitting duck in this world of magic. She felt insecure and powerless all the time here. Dudley didn't have to though.

"Vernon, I think we should let him do it." Vernon was frozen with shock, but Petunia knew he would agree if she explained it all properly to him.

--

"Yes, yes, YES!" Dudley whooped. He found Hestia and told her his parents had actually agreed that he should do magic, though he dad was extremely reluctant. Hestia told him that Dedalus wasn't all for the idea, but had said he would let them try this out for awhile. She told him that she suspected Dedalus was as impressed by a Muggle doing magic as she was. And since Dedalus was better at teaching than Hestia, they thought this might go a whole lot faster.

This could not have gone any better.

**A/n: I've split this chapter into two, since it was nearly eight pages. Review!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Over the next month, Dudley learned many new spells and hexes. He could immobilize, stun, or tickle anyone. He was really proud of how well he was doing. It was mid January now; they'd had a modest Christmas, with just a few gifts. They'd been in constant contact with the wizarding world. Harry's friend Ron had turned up for a while, assuring the Order that they were all fine; that Harry was trying to fulfill his mission. He did however say that it was extremely difficult and that it was going very slowly.

Harry had also been sighted in Godric's Hollow, which according to Dedalus, was where he lived the first year of his life with Lily and James. Petunia felt an odd pang of sadness. Ever since she had admitted to herself that Lily had done nothing wrong, she could finally allow herself to mourn over the death of her sister. She'd been very quiet lately, something they all had noticed, but decided to ignore on the whole.

"Is that where You-Know-Who killed them?" she asked quietly. Dedalus nodded.

"Dumbledore knew Harry would want to go back there at some point, though why Potter would choose now is beyond me."

"Why?" Hestia asked.

"Well, you all know how You-Know-Who has been keeping tabs on every place connected to Harry?" the room nodded. "Well, why would the place where You-Know-Who first hunted him be any different? Harry and Hermione were being careful enough; they had the Invisibility Cloak and Pollyjuice potion. Apparently You-Know-Who's _snake _found them."

"His snake, but how?!" Hestia was shocked, she had heard rumors about that snake having special powers, but no animal could really be that… _human_.

"Well, I heard this all from an old friend who lives in Godric's Hollow," Dedalus continued. "He said the snake had been disguised as Bathilda Bagshot, at least, it was living in her house."

"Does that mean…" Hestia was horrified. Dedalus nodded sadly.

"Yes, she's been dead for months. Anyway, my friend heard a ruckus going on in Bathilda's house, so he crossed the street to see what was going on. He was halfway over when he heard a loud scream and saw Harry and Hermione- I guess the potion had worn off- falling out of the window with You-Know-Who and his snake hanging out after them. They Apparated before they hit the ground and my friend got to safety before You-Know-Who noticed him."

"Wow." Hestia whistled. Harry was having too many close shaves. If he was caught, it was over. There would be no hope, as he was there last.

--

That night they were listening to the wizarding broadcast on the magical radio. Vernon's temper had been rising all day for no real reason; he just needed to be angry every once in awhile. As they listened about the numerous Muggle killings, his temper peaked. He had worked with one of the women killed. This wasn't fair. They had never done anything to these wizards, and they were being killed or hunted anyway. For _fun_! These so called 'good' wizards were all bloody cowards.

This is exactly what he told Hestia and Dedalus. "Now see here…" Dedalus had no idea what to say. He basically agreed with Vernon, but would not say so. There were plenty of wizards who could do something but wouldn't. And that wasn't fair, but for this Muggle to insult him and Hestia, to call them cowards? After all they had done for them? "Believe me Vernon, I would much rather be out on the front line than babysitting you lot!"

"Oh yes, I'm sure you would! You cowards won't even say the man's name, much less fight him!" he was livid by now. It's not like he wanted to be here, watched 24/7. "I'm just some stupid Muggle am I? I'm not as afraid of him as you are. Voldemort!" Ha, that showed him! The effect he'd been hoping for had passed through the room. Dedalus paled and Hestia flinched. The room was silent save for Vernon's panting.

"What was that?" Dudley suddenly jumped up. He was sure he had heard movement outside. The others heard it too. Dedalus and Hestia whipped out their wands and crept towards the front door.

Before they could reach it, a jet of green light caused it to collapse. Petunia screamed, giving away their position. Six cries of Stupefy and six jets of red light ran through the house. Dudley knew what that spell did, he immediately hit the floor. His parents fell beside him, unconscious.

Dedalus had blocked the curse, but Hestia had been too slow. She was blasted backwards as three curses hit her. Her wand fell in front of Dudley. He picked it up and crept behind the couch. Only two seconds had passed, though this all seemed to be happening in slow motion. He could hear the Death Eaters, who had found them at last, laughing as Dedalus finally fell. This was it. This was the time to finally protect himself with magic.

"Wingardium Leviosa," he whispered. He sent a side table zooming towards a Death Eater, who fell over with the blow. Dudley then sent a string of stunning spells towards the men who were no longer laughing. His aim was horrible as he couldn't see around the couch without exposing himself. He heard another Death Eater fall.

Four against one, he knew he couldn't do much. He'd already given away his position, and faster than he would've thought possible, the reaming Death Eaters surrounded him. Their hoods were up, so he couldn't see their faces. Before he could even think what to do, a jet of red light shot straight towards his face, and the world went black.

--

"Ah!" Harry clutched his forehead.

"What's happening?" Ron asked. Harry's face had just gone completely blank. He glanced at Hermione, who looked worried.

_Harry was again staring through the red slits of eyes. He was in a dark room, lit only by a few torches. There were about ten Death Eaters in the room, all laughing at something in the middle of the room. He glided towards them soundlessly. As he approached, they all abruptly grew silent and parted ways so he could witness the spectacle. Five people were slowly rotating upside down on invisible hooks. He studied their faces as they turned. Two of them were Order members, but the other three he didn't know._

_After Godric's Hollow, he'd had fewer ways to track the boy down, but if these people were who he thought they were, this would be perfect. The boy would surely come after them._

"_My Lord," Macnair cleared his throat. He turned to him. "It is indeed Potter's relatives. Sources told us long ago that these two," he cocked his head toward the witch and wizard, "were protecting them from us. We found them with the taboo." A smile curled over his lips. Macnair had no more to say, though he looked extremely pleased with himself. He would be rewarded later._

"_Dispose of the other two. Potter will come for his family." He began laughing. His followers copied him. "Potter will die for these _Muggles_!" his high piercing laugh rang throughout the dungeon, blending oddly with the low, gruff laughs of those around him._

Harry opened his eyes. He was lying on his bed in the brightly lit, warm tent. Hermione and Ron were staring at him, waiting for the news. "He's got the Dursleys!" Harry was shocked. Why the hell would any of them say Voldemort's name? How could Hestia and Dedalus not know it was tabooed?

He slammed his fist against the metal pole that supported the bunk. "Their killing Hestia and Dedalus right now!" Hermione and Ron were silent, not knowing what to say or do. "I guess we should get ready." They stared blankly at him. He cleared his throat, knowing all the reasons they shouldn't go, but knowing he had to anyway. "Come on!" Hermione and Ron stood up with him as he began packing up their tent. Hermione opened her mouth to say something, but Harry stopped her. "They're the only family I've got left, no matter how maddening they are." She nodded.

A few minutes later they had their belongings all packed up. "Harry, where are they?" Ron asked. Though Harry had never been there, he knew the exact location. "They're at Macnair's house."

"Oh. Well where the bloody hell does he live?" Ron asked. He was ready to go on another adventure. He hadn't been back long, but ever since that first night, they really hadn't done anything. He was so bored!

"Come on," Harry beckoned them closer to him. Ron and Hermione put their hands on his shoulder as he turned on the spot. When he opened his eyes they were on a deserted, grimy road. He knew he'd gotten the place right. They were a fair distance from the house, but Harry could immediately pick out the correct one. He began to walk towards it, but Hermione stopped him.

"Wait Harry, he obviously wants you to barge in there so he can kill you!" He stopped, she was right of course, as always.

"Hermione, he knows I'm coming anyway. He's probably already prepared for us. What else can we do but just barge in?"

"Let's just be a little cautious," Hermione timidly suggested. She still had nightmares from Godric's Hollow; she did not want a repeat.

"Ah!" Harry repeated. He clutched his burning scar. He could hear the distant ringing of laughter within his own head. "Hermione he just killed Dedalus and Hestia, the Dursleys are next, we've got to go!"

"Hold on mate," Ron put his hand on Harry's shoulder. "You-Know-Who knows you can read his mind, hell, he probably knows you were just in there. He's not going to kill them until after you go in there trying to save them. You'll know the second they're dead, and then there would be no reason for you to go. He knows that, and he'll wait as long as we wait." Harry nodded, knowing Ron was right. Voldemort would wait to kill him first and then kill the Dursleys.

"What do you reckon we do?" he turned to Hermione, who was deep in thought.

"I've got an idea!" she finally said after a minute or so of thinking. Harry had been trying to see into Voldemort's mind again, but all he'd been able to distinguish was that Voldemort was in the same room as before with fewer people this time. Hestia and Dedalus were indeed dead, but the Dursleys were still rotating upside-down.

He shook his head and looked at Hermione who was elaborating on her brilliant plan. He would impersonate Macnair with the little amount of Pollyjuice position they had left. Hermione and Ron would be following underneath the Invisibility Cloak. There wasn't much to this plan, the only reason they weren't already moving was the fact that Voldemort was in that basement dungeon.

There had to be all kinds of charms and spells in place by now to catch Harry. Even something as simple as a Foe Glass would completely blow their cover. Hermione suggested they set up camp and wait awhile until Voldemort's guard was down or until he left, if only for a moment. Harry reluctantly agreed, knowing she was right.

There were still three Horcruxes left to destroy. Ron would be carrying the sword in case they came across the snake while they were down there, but it would be extremely stupid of them to go getting themselves killed without anyone else to carry out the mission.

"Hermione, maybe you shouldn't go…" Harry began. She looked affronted, having come up with the plan. "It's just, if we were to mess up, and you know, die…" she didn't laugh. He hadn't expected her to. "If we do get killed, there should be someone left who knows about the Horcruxes who could tell the Order and get some help," Hermione looked like she wanted to throw a fit.

She knew Harry was right, but she hated begin excluded from the dangerous parts of adventures, no matter how many nightmares she had. She was just as capable as Ron and Harry, if not more so. Yet she gave in. This made Ron and Harry more relaxed, they both hated putting Hermione in these deadly situations, but she was usually so stubborn they had no choice.

--

So they waited. It took a week for Voldemort to finally leave, during which Harry had been able to Stupefy Macnair and take some of his hairs. They Obliviated his memory and sent him on his way. Once Harry watched Voldemort Disapparate, they began working. With amazing luck, Macnair left his house the same day. This was the perfect moment. Ron walked briskly underneath the Cloak, his wand in one hand and the sword in the other. Harry was using Hermione's wand and had just transformed into Travis.

Since they only had an hour at most, Ron and Harry practically ran to the house, leaving a cross Hermione behind. This felt a lot like breaking into the ministry, except even more was at stake with an even more dangerous situation. Voldemort could pop back in to the basement at any moment, and Harry highly doubted their disguises would fool him.

"Alohamora," Harry whispered. The door creaked open and he and Ron walked inside.

**A/n: The next chapter will be very exciting. Hope you like it.**


	7. Chapter 7

**A****/n: Okay. Sorry, really long update period. But I have an excuse or two. I've had to read a lot for school and I have exams coming up. My other excuse is that my computer crashed for about three weeks. But now I'm finally updating. **

**Chapter 7**

The house was silent. Hardly daring to breathe, Ron and Harry made their way across the long hall to where they knew the basement opened up. They flinched with every creak of the floorboards beneath their feet, though if they were found, there would be nothing suspicious about their appearance. Ron was invisible and Harry was Macnair.

Voldemort wasn't here at the moment, so they could breathe a little easier. As confident as they were in their plan, they knew that the moment he came back, they would have to run. Harry distantly remembered Snape telling him of Voldemort's skill in Occlumency. Harry still sucked at defending his mind. So the second Voldemort was back, he would see them for who they were.

Fortunately the Death Eaters weren't so clever. Harry and Ron were much more confident in the trusting, naïve minds of Voldemort's followers. They wouldn't dream of someone impersonating one of them. Who could possibly be that stupid?

Harry's scar was blissfully painless; they had all the time in the world. He took another swig of Polyjuice potion, just to be safe.

The house was dark and dreary. It looked more like a jail than someone's home. Harry turned the cold knob of the basement door and slowly made his way down into the darkness, ignoring his instincts to be silent. It would not be wise for him to be caught sneaking around, as it was supposed to be his own home.

His eyes adjusted to the darkness, and he could see a few cloaked figures lounging casually. They looked up at his arrival, a few surprised.

"What're you doing back so soon, Macnair?" an unfamiliar voice asked. Harry looked stupidly at him, at a loss for what to say. Thankfully the Death Eater provided him with an answer. "Has He found Potter yet?" So Voldemort was out looking for him was he? Where was he searching?

Harry cleared his throat; the sound was gruffer than usual. "No, we didn't find him. But he told me to come back here to await our next orders."

"What kind of orders?" the man didn't sound suspicious, but Harry was still a little nervous. He hadn't planned out his lines well enough.

"I dunno, we'll find out when He comes back," he shrugged as nonchalantly as he could. Next to him he could feel Ron shifting impatiently. For the first time he examined the room that he had seen in his mind for the past week. It _was_ a dungeon, guards and all.

"When do you think He'll come back?" the man sat down in an ornate chair. Harry copied him, still thinking of his next move.

"He said it would be awhile. A few days, maybe a week." Harry hoped he was doing a fair imitation of Macnair's manner. The guy had to be different around his companions than when he was when executing random animals.

The Death Eaters looked irritated at the thought of staking out here for another week. Apparently the dungeon scene was not the homiest surrounding they could imagine. They looked very tired, as if they hadn't slept in days. Harry was struck with a sudden inspiration.

"You don't have to stick around you know," he watched their expressions shift. A few of them looked eager and willing at the thought of leaving this gloomy building. The man who had been speaking to Harry suddenly looked suspicious. Harry backtracked.

"Look, we've run out of food here. And the moment He comes back he can just call you lot here again to give us further instruction. I can manage my own home. It's not like they," he jerked his head at the rotating Dursleys, "will give me any trouble." He looked nervously at the man. The key to this escape was speed.

The men looked ready to go at that instant. Unfortunately, the entire plan was ruined within the next second. Harry heard her before he saw her. The great snake Nagini slithered across the floor, headed straight towards him.

She'd seen straight through him in Godric's Hollow. There was no mistaking that she knew exactly who he was again. The Death Eaters watched the snake with puzzled eyes. Harry knew they would have to act now or run. The snake was advancing.

"I hate that bloody snake," the man recoiled slightly as it moved past him. "Macnair, what's it doing?" Harry pointed his wand at him. "Macnair?" the man realized a moment too late.

"Stupefy!" Harry yelled. The man fell immediately, but he'd given himself away. The slow-witted men had braced themselves. They were now all pointing their wands at Harry.

"Who are you?" the man who was now closest to Harry demanded. He ignored this man, instead focusing on the snake. The moment his eyes met with Nagini's, his invisible scar burned. Nagini had just alerted Voldemort of Harry's arrival. Harry searched his mind for a solution, but of course it was blank.

"Hey, I said who are you?" a red stream of light flew across the room. Harry didn't even bother looking; he knew it was Ron. This man fell beside his companion. Harry shot numerous spells at the remaining six Death Eaters, who blocked every single one of them. They still couldn't see Ron, who took out two more of them from behind.

Unfortunately, they did find Ron. Harry was blocking spells left and right but a powerful jinx hit him in the stomach and he was blasted backwards. As he fell, he watched as the cloak slipped off Ron, leaving him totally exposed. A stunning spell hit him squarely in the chest.

Harry could see the tip of the sword lying net to the place where Ron fell. Most of it was still hidden beneath the cloak. If he could just get over there…

Suddenly he felt agonizing pain in his left leg. He screamed as he turned to see Nagini sinking her long fangs into his calf. Blood gushed from the wound, but she wasn't aiming to kill him, just hold him for her master. A heavy sense of de ja vu surrounded him. This had gone just as dismally as Godric's Hollow. At least Hermione wasn't here this time.

Suddenly the room swam in front of him and he was in a completely unexpected scene. He was walking briskly away from Privet Drive. Glee filled his existence as he looked through Nagini's eyes to see the boy writhing in pain. It was only a few more steps until he could Apparate. Potter would not escape again. He couldn't Disapparate out of the dungeon as he had at Godric's Hollow. This was it. Today he would kill Harry Potter.

The foolish boy, dying for the Muggles. There was nothing more idiotic than that. All of these Muggle loving fools were too predictable. Dumbledore and his_ love_! Well all the love in the world wasn't enough to save him or Potter.

Harry was trying to pull out of Voldemort's mind so that he could fight off the Death Eaters now standing around him, wands pointed directly at his chest. Ron was tied up in the corner, unconscious. If only Ron could wake up and cut himself free. Harry could see the tip of the sword peaking out from underneath the cloak.

But there was no way Harry would be able to kill the snake today. More likely it would be killing him. He could feel the venom spreading, poisoning. He gasped in pain, a fresh wave of sweat and nausea passing over him. His scar burned violently at the same time and again he was in Voldemort's body. He was now racing to the front steps of the door. Blasting it open and rushing to the basement.

"Is this Potter?" an incredulous Death Eater exclaimed. Harry felt a nudge in his side as if kicking him would confirm their idea. He bit his teeth as a groan escaped his lips. Dread swept over him as Nagini loosened her grip. He looked up to see a dark figure descending the stairs. Voldemort looked oddly clumsy as he sprinted and stooped down the low staircase.

Harry's scar burned white hot as Voldemort neared. Everything seemed to happen in slow motion. He glanced at Ron beginning to stir and only wished that he wouldn't die to. He thought of a terrified Hermione awaiting their return all alone in the tent. Hopefully the Death Eaters wouldn't find her. He looked over at the Dursleys still unconscious and rotating and wondered if it was worth it. Yes, saving his family, no matter how badly they had treated him was definitely worth death.

He then thought of Dumbledore and of how he was failing him by dying. Voldemort would never be killed now. The remaining Horcruxes would stay intact, and it was all his fault. He had failed and now everyone else he loved would surely die.

He had to try to fight. He couldn't give into death like this, not after everything he had gone through.

But he was so weak. He couldn't even summon the strength to stand up and face Voldemort. This was the moment when someone or something had always come to his aid. There had always been help. He had always gotten lucky. He glanced at the door; no one was coming to save him this time. It had been naïve of him to even hope for some miraculous escape. There had to be only so many miracles allotted to a person in one lifetime.

Voldemort was upon him now. He could see the malicious red eyes peering down at him, speculating. There was definitely joy in those eyes. His scar throbbed again and he suddenly saw his own face, though it was still Macnair's appearance. His hair was matted down on his sweaty face and his leg was horribly mutilated. Harry felt Voldemort's pleasure at the look of horror on his own face.

He saw Voldemort's lips moved and expected the Avada Kedavra curse, but instead of a green light, a red one flowed towards him. Heat flowed through his body; he could feel his features changing back to normal. Voldemort smiled.

Reflexively Harry's gaze darted to Ron, who was just beginning to wake up near the Dursleys. Voldemort followed Harry's gaze and his smile grew wider. Unbelievable pain seared through hi snow visible scar and he could see what Voldemort was planning before he spoke aloud. "How foolish it was for you to come here Potter," his eyes gleamed with malice, "and for these Muggles!" Harry was silent.

Despite Harry's many escapes, Voldemort wanted to draw this out for as long as possible. He knew just as well as Harry that no one was coming to rescue him this time.

"I'm going to kill you," he whispered. "But first you're going to watch them die." Voldemort looked at the Dursleys briefly. "Then I will kill your friend," Harry looked in horror at Ron, who was now awake and gazing back with equal horror in his eyes. The smile on Voldemort's face was so wide now that it looked maniacal. His expression was truly terrifying.

He pointed his wand at Harry again. The Cruciatus Curse swarmed through his body. Every inch of his being was on fire. Before he could even begin to writhe in agonizing pain, he gasped as consciousness faded. Every bone in his body screamed for him to drift away, to escape. Harry could see the slightly angry look in the bright red eyes as his own eyes unwillingly shut. Darkness surrounded him.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/n: I'm now running out of ideas. I never planned for this to be a long story, so I think it'll be over soon.**

Chapter 8

Harry's scar burned again. It felt like he was almost immune to the feeling, but perhaps that was because he was already looking through Voldemort's eyes instead of his own.

How dare the boy show weakness now? Now when he most wanted him to fight, to die trying; now he would make it too easy? No, he would not allow it. Murder raging in his every thought, he performed the incantation that would reenervate Potter.

Potter's eyes opened slowly, far too slowly for his taste. He ordered a Death Eater to tie him up and place him by the wall. He would have his fun before he finished off Potter.

Harry felt himself being pushed against the wall, his arms bound behind his back. He was really trapped this time. Ron was across the room and gagged, the sword was covered by the invisibility cloak and so went unnoticed. Voldemort flashed a malicious smile at Harry as he lifted the curse that kept the Dursleys unconsciously rotating. They fell with a crash to the floor.

Petunia began screaming immediately. Voldemort silenced her easily with a casual flick of his wand. Vernon looked like he was choking, or worse, having a seizure. Dudley just looked baffled. Like he had no idea what was going on or how he had gotten here. Which was probably how he was actually feeling.

A Death Eater holding Hermione and Ron's wands sneered down at Harry. No matter how hard Harry racked his brain, he couldn't come up with any kind of a solution.

"Potter," Voldemort hissed, snapping Harry out of his reverie. All three of the Dursleys heads spun to look at Harry. Shock filled three pairs of eyes. Harry glanced at Dudley, who looked almost angry. Odd, but Harry didn't have the time to think about what that meant right now.

He turned back to Voldemort and said, "Look, you've got me now. Just let them go, they can't hurt you," he nodded to the Dursleys and Ron, who were all helpless right now. As was he. If he to die today, there was no way he would drag the others down with him.

Voldemort ignored his comment. "Did you know your cousin has been doing magic Potter?" Harry's eyes snapped back to Dudley's, who's were wide with fear at being mentioned by the terrifying skeleton. How the hell was Dudley doing magic? The Dursleys had always been the definition of Muggle. Why would that have changed?

Harry had felt horrible leaving Hestia and Dedalus with his aunt, uncle and cousin; he knew they would make their lives a living hell. But suddenly Dudley had an aptitude for wizardry? That really made no sense. But there were definitely more important things to think about right now. Like how to get them all out safely.

Voldemort sneered again at Harry's feeble attempts to save his loved one's. Checking to see if Harry was watching, he raised he wand and pointed directly at Vernon, who already looked about to pass out. Simultaneously, the Dursleys flinched away from him.

Harry's scar only gave him a second's warning. Not that the warning was of any use.

"No!" was all his hoarse voice was able to scream before the jet of green struck Vernon square in the chest. His lifeless body moved no more. The color did not return to his face, but the purple of before was replaced with a very pale white.

Vernon Dursley was dead. The uncle that Harry had despised was gone. Forever. And it was completely and totally his fault. Harry roared with anger, and Voldemort smiled. This was the reaction he he'd been waiting for, more or less.

Again, he pointed his wand at Harry and performed the Cruciatus Curse. Harry was far too awake to pass out again. Vernon had always played a part in his life, it had not always been pleasant, but he had always been there. The Dursleys had been the only part of his life that he'd been sure of. They were rocks, unchanging and hard. And always there. He had known so many wizards that had died, but the Dursleys dying seemed impossible.

For the first time in living memory Vernon had looked scared. He had looked exactly as Dudley and Petunia did now, like a frightened child, begging for his life. He had glanced at Harry as Voldemort raised his wand, as if pleading for help. It was Harry's fault his uncle was dead. It was his fault his aunt and cousin were next. This was all his fault.

Harry bit his lip to keep from screaming; he didn't want to give Voldemort the satisfaction. He couldn't keep his body from twitching, and so writhed about in his bonding until Voldemort lifted the curse.

Suddenly, Petunia found the words she had been trying so hard to scream. "You bastard! First Lily and now Vernon? Bastard!" her next words were mumbled into hysterical sobs. She knew she was powerless against this devil, and there was nothing absolutely nothing she could do. Voldemort silenced her again with another flick of his wand.

Dudley placed his arm around her in a one-armed hug. This could not be happening. His dad had no just died right before his eyes. No. He couldn't form words had the moment so he switched from glaring silently at Voldemort to gazing woefully at Harry. He showed no fear, just determination.

But somehow, through it all, he wished Harry hadn't come. After all Hestia and Dedalus had told them, Harry had to be the one to finish this man. And he wouldn't be able to do that now. And it was their fault. Because of their ignorance, the entire world would surely end.

"NO!" Harry yelled as he pointed his wand at Dudley this time. "You coward! You won't even fight; you just kill defenseless Muggles! I thought you wanted to finish this! Give me my wand and we will finish this!" Harry knew Voldemort never backed down from a challenge, not that too many wizards had the guts to face him head on.

Harry didn't exactly know what his plan was, because he knew there were still three more Horcruxes out there, and he would not be able to win. But if he could just buy some time for the others, do something…

He really had no hope, but he knew he couldn't just sit here watching everyone die, waiting for his turn. Voldemort turned slowly. An evil smile lit up his face yet again. Harry knew he would accept the challenge this time. Voldemort knew he had nothing to lose, for he was still immortal.

"All right," he flicked his wand, and Harry's ropes fell away. He scrambled onto his feet. "Give Potter back his wand. If he is so impatient for death, I will give it to him, because I am merciful. You will join your uncle in no time at all." Hermione's wand was shoved back into his hand.

Sweat lined his brow; his clammy hands were shaking. How were they going to get out of this one? Petunia and Dudley still looked ready to pass out and Ron looked as if he would surely vomit. Harry realized he was almost waiting for help, though no one would possibly know they were down here.

It seemed to be a practiced duet between the pair of them. As if on command, Voldemort screamed _Avada Kedarvra_ as Harry yelled _Expelliarmus_. But there was a difference this time; the twin cores were gone. Hermione's completely ordinary wand would give him no advantage here.

Harry had no choice; he dove to the ground to avoid the spell. Voldemort flicked away his feeble curse as if it were a fly. Harry hadn't even realized he was cornering himself. His back hit he wall and Voldemort smiled again. This was the end.

Harry blinked away the sweat in his eyes, but when he opened his them again, there was no light. Darkness surrounded him. Had Voldemort really acted so quickly? Was he already dead? No, this was not death; this was too noisy.

Harry could still hear the others around him. Voldemort was screeching orders to his followers and Petunia was screaming again. Suddenly a rough pair of hands grabbed his arm. What the hell was happening?


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Chaos surrounded him. Harry had absolutely no idea what was going on. He wasn't even sure which way was up. Bright jets of green and red shot past him in all directions. The low gruff screams mixed with the one high screech rang in his ears. His scar burned like mad. If it hadn't already been pitch black, then Harry would've surely fallen into darkness.

The same pair of rough hands kept a tight hold of him. Instinct told Harry to trust whomever this was. Was it possible that help had come again? Could he actually this much luck? He felt himself being moved up the stairs, the screaming growing dimmer.

Everything ended as quickly as it had begun. Somehow Harry was being Apparated away from Voldemort. He still didn't understand any of it, but when he felt his feet land firmly on the ground, he was smiling.

Beside him, hand still on his arm, was Remus Lupin. The first coherent thing that came from Harry was, "How…?" But Lupin just shook his head and pulled Harry towards the house. He realized this must be where Lupin lived.

Once they were inside the safe walls Harry tried again. "Lupin, how did you find us? What happened? Is everyone out?" he looked around; no one else seemed to be here yet. Suddenly, he remembered the last time he had seen Lupin, in Grimmauld Place. Tension filled the room as Lupin too apparently recalled their last talk.

"Lupin, I'm sorry about what I said…" Harry apologized.

"None of that now." Lupin cut him off. "Harry, everyone else is fine. We're to join them in a few minutes. We just want to make sure Vol… You-Know-Who won't try to track your mind like you did to him." He smiled as the shocked expression on Harry's face. "Hermione." Lupin stated simply.

Of course Hermione had saved them. Harry was filled with extreme gratitude to her. If not for her… they would've all died.

"You still haven't answered everything," Harry prodded.

"Well, I'm not sure if everyone got out yet, because we haven't met up with them yet. And as for what happened…" he smiled. "It was rather clever for such short notice. Kingsley had a Hand of Glory, hoping it could be useful some day.

"We worked a complicated charm to spread the effects of the Hand so that the six of us who went down there could all have light. Tricky business. Anyway, we didn't have much time to act so we followed Hermione and just went down."

"That's it?" Harry asked incredulously. They could've all been killed so very easily. Was that really all the planning they had done? Then again, had they waited longer, Harry would've probably been dead.

"That's it. And I think it worked quite nicely, as far as I could tell. Tell me Harry, what exactly were you planning on doing down there? Hermione wouldn't tell us."

Again Harry was very proud of Hermione for keeping her cool and saving them as smoothly as humanly possible. "You-Know-Who got to the Dursleys,"

"Yes, we heard. Hestia and Dedalus are dead, aren't they?" Lupin's face aged almost ten years. Harry guessed he must've been closer with the pair than he'd known.

Harry nodded slowly, not wanting to answer him aloud. Lupin's head dropped a bit but he asked Harry to continue.

"Well I couldn't just leave them there," What more did he need to explain? They were his family; surely Lupin could understand that. "He killed my uncle. To try to make me angry. He wanted a more… enthusiastic response from me." Anger boiled within him as he remembered the events of only a few minutes previously. Already it seemed like ages ago.

"Harry you can't be blaming yourself for that?" a slightly exasperated Lupin asked. "If you hadn't gone he would've killed them anyway. Your aunt and cousin are alive because you went." Harry nodded, though he knew Lupin had no more idea than he did about the others' fates.

"That's not to say it wasn't extremely foolish," Lupin continued. "Why didn't you contact the Order for help?"

Harry didn't have much of an answer to that one. "Er…" that probably would've been wiser, but he'd been on the run for so long that he had almost forgotten just how many people out there were willing to help him. "I guess I didn't want to drag anyone else into it?" he said it more as a question. Lupin was not satisfied, but he let it drop for now.

"So how have you been?" Lupin asked conversationally. Harry again vividly remembered their last meeting.

"Great," Harry replied as sarcastically as was possible. "Nothing like being on the run." Odd, right around now would've been when Hermione would start nagging them to prepare for their N.E.. Ron and Harry would've scoffed at her, wondering why they should study months in advance.

They would probably never even see Hogwarts again; though Harry still persisted in reminding Ron and Hermione that it was the most obvious hiding place for a Horcrux. They just didn't want to risk it.

Lupin laughed bitterly. "I know the feeling." He paused. "So, how is it going… whatever you're doing?" Harry could see the curiosity burning in Lupin's eyes. For now though, it still needed to be kept between him, Ron, and Hermione.

But he could give him a half answer. "It's going alright. It's pretty hard, but it feels like Dumbledore is almost leading the way." Lupin nodded in agreement. Beyond the grave, Dumbledore was still extremely influential. "How're things going with you? How is Tonks doing?"

"Tonks is glowing," Lupin said proudly. It seemed his old feelings had dissolved, and for this, Harry was extremely glad. "And most of the Order are in hiding, or at least the major members are." Which reminded Harry,

"Heard your show, Romulus," he grinned. "It's brilliant!

"Thanks," Lupin smiled, reddening slightly. "We like bringing hope to the wizarding community. I'm glad to hear you've caught a few installments," Harry nodded.

"So, besides keeping up with the news and all… what exactly is the Order doing?" if they were in hiding, it had to be difficult to be doing anything major in the fight against Voldemort. Harry was definitely having a tough time getting anything done.

Lupin looked away from Harry. "It's difficult, Harry," he paused, searching for the right words. "We're still trying to recruit, but so many people have lost hope. They're terrified for their families and for themselves. That's why our radio program is so imperative. We inform them about what is really happening, but more importantly, we're standing up to the Death Eaters by telling the truth. It really inspires people.

"And next week when I tell them I've talked with you, that you're still out there working for something… Harry, you have no idea how comforting to them it will be. Not to put more pressure on you… but don't do anything stupid and get yourself killed. What little optimism is left will be extinguished immediately. You're the only threat You-Know-Who is worried about right now. Please don't pull any more stunts like this. Come to me, or Kingsley for help.

"We can't lose you," Lupin finished. Harry nodded again, looking as far away from Lupin as possible. He knew it had been idiotic, even selfish of him to risk his neck, but he hadn't known what else to do. The worst of it was, though he was promising Lupin that he would come to him for help, at some point, Harry would have to do this on his own.

He would have to face and kill Voldemort, and no one, not Lupin or Kingsley or anyone else, would be able to help him. Again, he just nodded to Lupin, making him think that he would later ask for help, but knowing he would not.

They settled into silence, it was not awkward this time, but just a nice, tired stillness. About ten minutes later, Lupin told Harry that it would probably be safe to meet up with the others and see how Ron, Petunia, and Dudley were doing.

With a crack they Apparated and Harry opened his eyes to another unfamiliar surrounding. Startled, the people in the room stood and immediately raised their wands.

Lupin held up his hands in surrender to the other Order members and said, "I am Remus Lupin, werewolf and active Order member. Next to me is Harry Potter who we just saved from You-Know-Who himself." And with that, the Order relaxed.

Lupin, however, did not lower his wand. He kept a tight hold of Harry's shoulder, ready to Apparate if someone here was not who they claimed to be. The other men in the room made similar claims and introductions.

Kingsley told Harry that the others were in the next room. Harry sighed gratefully, knowing Kingsley would have been told if someone was missing. He knocked once on the door and entered.

Hermione jumped up to greet him, remnants of past tears still on her cheeks. He hugged her tightly and whispered, "Thanks for not listening to us," she laughed weakly. Harry shuddered to think what would have happened if Hermione had not gotten nervous all alone in their tent.

Next Harry looked to Ron, who was smiling but looked very weak. It would've been his fault entirely if Ron had died. Across the small room Dudley and Petunia were taking up as little space as was humanly possible. Which was quite a feat for his large cousin. Petunia seemed to have gone into shock, she was no longer crying but just staring blankly around the room.

Upon his entrance, Dudley looked up and tried to smile, but failed. Harry knew that the Dursleys had never been the closest family in the world, but nevertheless, it was still a huge blow to Dudley to lose his father. Hell, Harry was upset, and Vernon had hated him for most of his life.

"Dudley…" Harry didn't know what to say to his cousin. Before he could think of anything, Dudley held up his hand and interrupted,

"Harry, you saved our lives. Thanks." Harry nodded, a little surprised. Dudley was not usually a man of so many words. His cousin looked different, it had been over six months since he had last seen him, but he hadn't expected him to change so much. He had grown a bit taller, and had lost a lot of weight. But he also looked older, wiser. Dudley had faced his fair share of horrors over the past few months too.

"No problem," Harry finally responded. He didn't know what else to say. In the next room, Harry could hear Lupin telling the others much of what they had just talked about. The silence was piercing.

Hermione couldn't contain herself any longer. "Harry, I'm so glad you're alright! I was so worried Lupin wasn't going to get there in time! Oh Harry," she hugged him again, and the tears returned. Harry patted her back gently, and held her shaking body tightly. He glanced to Ron, who was in too much pain even care.

Dudley watched their embrace with a stoic expression. After a few minutes, he cleared his throat and Harry looked to him.

"Er, Harry, can I talk to you for a minute? Privately." Harry nodded, a little puzzled. There was a door at the back of this room that the two of them exited through. Once Harry had shut it behind him Dudley asked, "Is it over? Have you killed Him?"

Harry froze, not knowing how to put this kindly. Dudley and Petunia would still have to hide out until this was over. It could be months or even years. "Er, no, Dudley. I didn't. Not yet." Though Harry did have a feeling that Voldemort wouldn't try as hard to find the Dursleys again. It was odd to think of the Dursleys as only having two members now.

Dudley's face fell. He couldn't stand another minute of this life. "Why not? Why can't you just kill him and get it over with?" he knew he was probably being ignorant, but he didn't care.

"Dud, it's complicated," Harry hedged.

"Complicated my ass! Harry what the hell have you been doing if not trying to kill this guy?"

Harry sighed. "Look, it's a lot more difficult than it sounds." He thought for a moment and decided on something. "Dudley, can I tell you a secret?"

"Yeah, I guess," Dudley, said, taken aback by the change in manner. He would've liked to cuss some more, but he thought it would be best if he let Harry explain.

"I'm serious, man, you can't tell anyone about this, not even your mum." Harry warned. Dudley nodded, looking extremely interested.

"You-Know-Who is immortal. He's locked away six pieces of his soul into six different objects. We've taken care of three of them, but there are still another three out there. I can't kill him until we destroy everything else." Harry gauged Dudley's incredulous expression. Silence filled the room.

"Wow," was all Dudley could think to say.

"Yeah, so we've been searching all over for them, but we have no idea where to look. Even He doesn't know we're doing this, so you have to swear to keep this a secret," it was imperative that Dudley didn't tell anyone about this, or word would somehow get back to Voldemort.

"We already know what two of the three things are and we have theories about their whereabouts, but it's slow work. No one can see me or the Death Eaters will come. If He even hears about what we're doing, He's going to take all three objects, and make sure I can never get to them." Harry didn't know why he was telling Dudley all of this. He just wanted to confide in someone besides Ron and Hermione.

He felt like a weight had been lifted, and it felt good. As Dudley processed all that he said, Harry was struck with another inspiration. "Dudley, if Vol-, if You-Know-Who does get to me first, I want to you to talk to Ron and Hermione and get them to tell Lupin or Kingsley all of this. Can you do that for me?" Harry knew if he tried to tell Ron and Hermione himself, they would just ask him why he was planning on getting himself killed.

Dudley nodded mutely. He couldn't imagine contemplating his own death, let alone so calmly. But his cousin was already making arrangements, plans, in case he did die. Wow.

"So, you are the Chosen One, or whatever they call you, right?" the way Harry was talking, it sounded like he didn't have much of a choice in the matter.

"Yeah, I guess so. It's got to be me. I'm not sure why yet, but it does." Neither can live while the other survives. The words of the prophecy ran through his head. He sighed and sat down. He hadn't realized just how tired he was. Somehow, he also hadn't realized just how much pain his leg was in. He clenched his teeth together and bit back a groan.

He just wanted to sleep now, and to have Hermione heal his leg. But Dudley still had another question. He didn't want to sound stupid, but he had to ask, "Is there, a, er, spell that can…" Harry cut him off, guessing by his tone where he was going.

"No, I'm sorry. He can't come back." Harry watched Dudley's face fall even more. Harry knew exactly how he felt, for Dumbledore, for Sirius, for his own parents. "It'll be okay, Dudley. It doesn't hurt so much after a while," Dudley just nodded mutely. Harry realized that this was the first death Dudley had ever experienced. He placed a hand on his cousin's shoulder and left the room.

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**Author's note: There's only going to be one more chapter, and it's more of an epilogue. I hope you liked this story, and thanks to all of you who have reviewed. **


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